{"id":45948,"date":"2026-01-19T16:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=45948"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:51:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:51:28","slug":"review-of-jonathan-strange-and-mr-norrell-by-susanna-clarke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=45948","title":{"rendered":"Review of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell<\/em><\/p>\n

by Susanna Clarke
\nread by Simon Prebble<\/p>\n

Macmillan Audio, 2006. 32 hours, 30 minutes.
\nReview written November 24, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
\nOriginally reviewed October 26, 2004<\/a>.
\nStarred Review
\n2004 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>: #1 Science Fiction and Fantasy<\/p>\n

I reread (via listening) this book as part of my celebration of #Sonderbooks25<\/a> – my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell<\/em> was my favorite new book for adults that I read in 2004.<\/p>\n

I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t as enamored with the book as when I read it the first time – it’s definitely not my favorite book of the year this year, or even close. But I still thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the story and getting caught up in Susanna Clarke’s highly detailed alternate world. Let me talk about the good things, but also why I’m not raving about it this time around.<\/p>\n

The book is long. The first time I read it, the only way I could bring myself to tackle it was one chapter per day while I read other books – until I got about halfway through and was more obsessed. This time around, it required two separate checkouts of the eaudiobook, with a wait in between. 32 hours! But the length is also a strength. The incredible detail – with footnotes! – of the alternate-reality England during the Napoleonic Wars is an incredible feat of world-building. Simon Prebble feels like the perfect reader for the book, reading it with the voice of a scholarly old gentleman that just suits the story perfectly.<\/p>\n

The story takes you through first Mr. Norrell and then Jonathan Strange being the first practical magicians that England has seen in hundreds of years. We’ve got hints about the Raven King, who used to control magic in England. We’re warned about the Faery realms and see the drastic consequences when Mr. Norrell messes with fairies – but consequences that he keeps secret from everyone else. We watch those consequences play out, and we watch Jonathan Strange do magic to win the war with Napoleon – and then diverge from his teacher. And eventually, we watch the prophecy happen about the two of them bringing magic back to England. And always a nefarious fairy causing trouble behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

The book is immersive, and listening was a great way for me to tolerate the great length. So why was I not as enraptured this time around? <\/p>\n

First, I already knew about the amazing world-building, so I took it more for granted this time. I did notice this time the blatant racism and anti-Semitism. It probably accurately reflects attitudes in England at that time, but was still unpleasant to read about. And there was a “historical” story told about the magic of Native Americans – including footnotes – that felt like a demeaning caricature. So I do feel like I should warn about that.<\/p>\n

But I also realized that I didn’t remember how it ended – and was kind of let down when it did. Yes, many threads come together, but I didn’t think the ending was terribly satisfying. And then I realized that I didn’t really like any of the characters much. So the world-building and the delightful scholarly tone is the best part of the book. And they do<\/em> carry the book the entire 32 hours, but it wasn’t quite as wonderful as I had remembered.<\/p>\n

All the same, if you’re ever in the mood for a great big doorstopper of a fantasy novel that is not<\/em> a romantasy but does present an amazing alternate world of magic – Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell<\/em> is worth reading. And, yes, rereading.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Fiction\/jonathan_strange_and_mr_norrell.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> for more reviews and talk about books.<\/p>\n

Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke read by Simon Prebble Macmillan Audio, 2006. 32 hours, 30 minutes. Review written November 24, 2025, from a library eaudiobook. Originally reviewed October 26, 2004. Starred Review 2004 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #1 Science Fiction and Fantasy I reread (via listening) this book as part of my celebration of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,426,31,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-fiction-review","category-sonderbooks25","category-stand-outs","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46135,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45948\/revisions\/46135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}